Surrey rower selected for World Championships
Monday 24 August 2009
Surrey-based rower Vicki Hansford, a sports development officer at the University of Surrey, has been selected to represent Great Britain in the mixed adaptive coxed four at the forthcoming World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland.
Earlier this year, Vicki, a bronze medallist at last year’s Beijing Paralympics, took gold at the World Cup in Munich with her crew of James Roe, Dave Smith, Naomi Riches and cox Rhiannon Jones.
Vicki is thrilled to have been selected for the World Championships: "I’m so excited to be going to Poland with the team; this is a huge event for us. The whole squad is training together at GB Rowing national centre in Caversham at the moment and – touch wood – things seem to be going well for our team so we’re hopeful that we can repeat our success from the World Cup earlier this year.”
As well as being a sports development officer at the University of Surrey, Vicki is an ambassador for the new Surrey Sports Park, a multi-million pound development which is owned by the University. The Surrey Sports Park is due to open early in 2010 and will be one of the premier training facilities ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.
Vicki has an impressive pedigree in rowing despite only taking up the sport in 2006. She made an immediate impact at the 2006 World Rowing Championships by not only winning gold in the mixed coxed fours, but also by setting a new world record for the event. She went on to stroke the boat to win the first ever World Cup Regatta in Amsterdam in 2007 and took silver with the same crew at the World Rowing Championships in Munich later that year.
The World Championships take place from 23 – 30 August 2009.
Media Enquiries
Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689191, or Email mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk